Windsor Denies Abuse Case Claims

Windsor — Windsor police and the Vermont Department of Children and Families are denying claims made by a 69-year-old grandfather who sued them for allegedly conducting a flawed sex assault investigation that was abandoned only after he had lost custody of his grandson and his name was placed on a child protection registry.

In filings in U.S. District Court in Burlington, attorneys for the agencies say they had an obligation to investigate Ernest Simuro, and were not responsible for any harm he suffered from being forced to move out of his home, live under house arrest and face embarrassing charges that were ultimately dropped.

Simuro, in a federal lawsuit filed in February, said the investigation into his alleged sex assault of his grandson, now 9, was fueled by inaccurate statements provided by a Windsor police officer and a DCF investigator.

Attorneys for Windsor police and the DCF, which is represented by the Vermont Attorney General’s Office, also argued in recent filings that they are legally immune from his lawsuit because they acted within the scope of their legal authority to investigate complaints.

Additionally, James Carroll, attorney for Windsor, said in court papers that the town is prepared to argue that, though the charges were dropped, Simuro “committed the acts.”

The case against Simuro was triggered by complaints by his daughter, Debra Pitta, who was the boy’s mother and had lost custody of him after struggling with drug addiction and being convicted of unrelated crimes.

According to Simuro’s lawsuit, Shedd asked leading questions of the boy, overlooked previous false allegations made by Pitts, and, along with Keefe, filed official paperwork that misrepresented statements that the boy made in a videotaped interview.

Simuro, an Air Force veteran with no criminal record, was charged with sex assault in 2010, and the boy was placed in foster care. A year later, in August 2011, prosecutors dropped the case after Simuro’s attorney, Wayne Young, filed several motions challenging the strength of their case, and the boy was returned to Simuro, where he currently remains.